GMO Payment Gateway Partners With BitFlyer

GMO Payment Gateway has now partnered with BitFlyer with the goal to provide the option to pay with Bitcoin to its 48000 online merchants. The service will hopefully start towards the end of this year.

GMO-PG was founded in 1995. The company specializes in offering different payment services to various e-commerce platforms, and some mobile content providers. It was found that company, which is a subsidiary of the GMO Internet, makes $61m from annual sales and has market capitalization of $374m.

CEO of BitFlyer, Yuzo Kano calls this special partnership a “business-and-capital alliance.” He believes this collaboration will help them create a very unique Bitcoin settlement service in Japan. The partnership will also ensure a more convenient and safer domestic e-commerce environment.

Kano explained that the service will enable assorted goods such as consumer to buy electronics devices that Internet-based virtual retailers offer and digital content like games and music with Bitcoin.

At present, GMO-PG has over than 48000 merchant customers. All of these merchant consumers have the ability to accept Bitcoin from November when the Bitcoin payment system will be completely enabled.

Apart from the partnership with BitFlyer, GMO-PG also made undisclosed investment in the bitcoin exchange. Back in July, BitFlyer raised $1.6m with the aim to become the leading player in bitcoin’s growing market in Japan.

GMO Internet, GMO-PG’s parent company, has the goal to deliver a one-stop solution for entrepreneurs in Japan who are looking invest in online businesses, since 1991. GMO is very often seen as an alternative to Rakuten, consumer e-commerce giant.

Even with so much competition, BitFlyer kinds establishing itself as a leading company in Japan’s still possible using Bitcoin ecosystem.

BitFlyer was founded in January of 2014. The company has been working very hard to set itself apart from the rest. CEO Kano’s own narrative has kept them motivated. Kano left Goldman Sachs, his former employee, last year to start his own company.

In the last few months, some remarkable exchanges were launched in the market. However, all of these companies are operating under the shadow of Mt. Gox, the now non-operational exchange which colored early public perception in Japan.

GMO is in a promising position at the moment and their bitcoin integration can change things for the better.